Baker All Talk on Regional Carbon Limits

As President Donald Trump moves forward with his efforts to dismantle the Clean Power Plan and accelerate the extraction of coal, oil, and gas on federal lands, it’s worth taking a look at our own record here in Massachusetts. While state officials speak the language of “climate leadership,” their actions have often fallen short.

Case in point: Last August, officials in Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration announced their support for doubling the strength of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a program to limit carbon pollution from power plants and invest in clean energy and energy efficiency in Massachusetts and eight other northeastern states.

These proposed changes would reduce emissions by 5 percent per year, as opposed to 2.5 percent under the current program rules — enough to cut an additional 100 million metric tons of pollution by 2030. That’s the equivalent of making more than 1 million homes run entirely on solar power.

We were thrilled to see Massachusetts become the first state to support doubling the strength of RGGI, and we joined other environmental advocates in praising the administration’s move.

But since August, Baker and his administration have been missing in action. The governor and his top officials have largely stayed silent on the issue of RGGI. When pressed by reporters, administration spokespeople have issued mealy-mouthed statements expressing vague support for RGGI but without any specifics on how strong the program should be.Has Baker backed away from his commitment to double the strength of RGGI and reduce carbon pollution more quickly? It’s hard to say for sure, but absent any definitive statement from the governor or top officials such as Matthew Beaton, the secretary of energy and environmental affairs, and Martin Suuberg, the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, it’s clear that the administration’s priorities lie elsewhere.